Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Beulah and Gustave - Wedding Wednesday

Hark! the bells were ringing but
they were not Christmas bells. Gus-
tave Doyle and Miss Beulah Gerner
were married on Wednesday evening
the 20th. Some 200 guests were in-
vited and an elegant wedding supper
was served. We wish them a long
and happy life.

Weddings are a cause for joyful celebration. It is the beginning of a new life together, often in a new home for the wife and sometimes for both spouses, the beginning of a new family. In Beulah's case, she moved to the farm where her husband had been born and raised. Having grown up on a farm she surely was accustomed to the work, chores, and routines of a farm.

I can imagine the joy they and the rest of their families must have felt on that wedding night and at the wedding supper. But from the perspective of 100 years, I feel sorrow for subsequent events.

If only the sentiment in the newspaper, "We wish them a long and happy life," had been prophetic instead of only a wish, the lives of many would have turned out much differently. Beulah and Gust had a short marriage. Beulah died in April, 1913, little more than two years after her marriage and four weeks after the births of twin babies and death of one of them. She was just 24. Gust remarried a few years later and was the father of several children. He died of cancer (or complications of surgery) 20 years later in 1933. He was just 44.

No descendant survives who can tell me whether Beulah and Gust's marriage was happy, whether Beulah enjoyed her new home and life on a different farm. I can only imagine and hope there was joy....

Notes
This newspaper article from the December 26, 1911 issue of The (Greenville, PA) Record-Argus was a gift from Dayna, a cousin who recently found my blog. Her line and my line meet at Gust's daughter, Tressa Doyle Wilson. Thank you, Dayna.

Seeing my grandfather named as "Gustave" took me by complete surprise. His descendants who I know have always given his name as Gust or Gus.

About Me

Sometimes I want to jump back in time, into the lives of my ancestors. Not to stay, of course -- too many modern conveniences I'd rather not do without -- but to meet them and watch their interactions with each other. Since I can't do that, I spend time learning about them and the times in which they lived. I look forward to meeting them. I've been seriously searching for my ancestors for nearly 8 years. I plan to continue indefinitely.
If you think we might have ancestors in common or you'd like to contact me for any other reason, please email me at myancestorsandme @ gmail.com.